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RATING: |
Date of Release: March 2002 |
Publisher: Allen & Unwin |
Review Source: |
Cass Ridley is a tough woman. She is a female pilot who served with the 101st Airborne in the Persian Gulf War. She has decided to make some easy money by becoming a courier in a drug deal that takes place in Mexico. Cass makes a tidy sum from the drug deal and she goes on a spending spree.
Another quirky character is Texas-born Wilbur Struthers, a peace-loving man who burglarizes apartments for a living. He decides to burglarize Cass Ridley's apartment, and then things get complicated. It seems that some of the money that Cass "earned" and that Will steals may be counterfeit.
A murder ensues, which involves the detectives of the 87th precinct as well as Fat Ollie Weeks, of the 88th Precinct. It seems that the aforementioned drug deal is part of an elaborate scheme, involving enormous sums of money. The action becomes complicated, and it is sometimes difficult to keep the characters straight without a scorecard. A series of violent confrontations leads to more bloodshed.
The humor is provided by Fat Ollie Weeks, who eats almost without stopping, and who is sloppy as well as morbidly obese. He is an unabashed racist and he hates all minority groups equally. Weeks is completely oblivious of how obnoxious he comes across to almost everyone that he meets. Ironically, as gross as he is as a human being, Weeks is a first-rate detective.
The book's timeliness stems from a plot dealing with Arab terrorists who intend to blow up a public building.
What keeps "Money, Money, Money" from realizing its potential is the convoluted plot that has one too many twists and turns. Not only is there a counterfeiting plot, but there is also a plot about a drug addicted dealer named Wiggy who takes on a bunch of felons, much to his regret. This, plus the terrorist plot, sinks the narrative under its own weight.
McBain juggles all these narrative balls competently enough, but the four or five plot lines do not add up to a coherent whole. McBain's writing style is so fluid and effortless that he is always a pleasure to read. However, in the case of this novel, fewer complications would have added up to a more satisfying novel.
